WABC-TV Meteorologist: I Never Told Police I Was Raped

NEW YORK (CBS 2/1010 WINS/AP) — A Channel 7 meteorologist accused of filing a phony police report about being stalked and assaulted in Central Park says she never told police she was the victim of a rape or an attempted rape.

Heidi Jones was arrested Saturday and ordered to appear in county court on a false reporting charge after police said she made up her claims. Police say she admitted fabricating the claims after they investigated.

A lawyer for Jones said Friday the meteorologist never said she was the victim of an attempted rape. The attorney did not clarify what Jones says she told police.

In a statement, the lawyer said that “at no time did (Ms. Jones) ever claim to any law enforcement official that she had been raped or that she was the victim of an attempted rape.”

“The characterization of this case as a ‘false rape claim’ is character assassination directed at a respected broadcast journalist,” the statement went on.

CBS 2 News, however, has learned that Jones, a dedicated runner, told detectives a man grabbed her as she was running in Central Park, dragged her into some bushes, and started spreading her legs apart.

Jones has been suspended indefinitely from WABC-TV pending an internal investigation.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said valuable police resources and time were wasted on the investigation.